Trinity outs Dalton as AD; transfers him to teaching position

Trinity Area School Board decided by an 8-1 vote Thursday night to transfer Ed Dalton to a teaching position and advertise for a new athletic director.
The decision came in front of a crowd of at least 200 people who applauded as speakers voiced their support for Dalton, baseball coach Levi Bristor and other coaches. Dalton will remain the varsity football coach.
Audience members booed as the roll call vote was taken to transfer Dalton to a teaching position.
Board member Jim Knapp was the only school board member to vote against the move.
“As a former union president, I think we’re going to have legal issues,” said Knapp, who is a Bethel Park guidance counselor. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”
Dalton’s contract as athletic director is up this month. He was hired as Trinity’s athletic director and football coach in 1999 and came to Trinity after successful coaching stints at Altoona, Mt. Pleasant and Purchase Line.
Superintendent Paul Kasunich said it was “not a matter of not wanting” Dalton to stay on as athletic director.
Kasunich and board President Tom Bodnovich said after the meeting that an offer was made for a new contract, but Dalton rejected it.
Bodnovich said Dalton was offered more money, but he turned it down because he didn’t like new language in the contract. Bodnovich said that legally he couldn’t describe the new language.
Dalton said the two sides were negotiating, but that he was not given an offer. He said he was not accusing the superintendent of lying, but that the board’s attorney has a different interpretation of the negotiations than his attorney.
Dalton’s contract states that the board has the prerogative to place him in the classroom or renew his contract, Kasunich said.
His contract requires that he be paid at the top of the teachers’ pay scale if he is transferred. That top teacher pay is $80,350 for the upcoming school year.
Dalton said he did not know that the board was going to take the action until just before the meeting.
He said he’s had 12 ratings as athletic director and all have been commendable, excellent or satisfactory. He said he was never given an improvement plan in writing.
With a 54-56 record and a string of five WPIAL playoff appearances, Dalton ranks second to Milton Decker on Trinity’s all-time wins list.
Dalton said he was told in February that this was going to happen, which negates any due process. He said he was asked to take a pay cut, which is discriminatory because he is over the age of 40. He said he plans to sue the district.
When asked if he would take the teaching position, Dalton said, “I’ll do what I’m told.”
However, he said, if that does happen, it has to be a created position; no one can be furloughed to make room for him.
Dalton said he will do a great job as a teacher.
“But I love being the athletic director,” he said.
He questioned where the dissenters are, those who oppose him as athletic director.
“Obviously, there are people in support,” he said after the meeting.
One former player spoke passionately during the meeting about the impact of Dalton on his life. Another described him as a father figure.
Parent Ed Brownlee told the board members that everyone in the audience was against them. He said board members were elected and thought they could change the world and do whatever they wanted.
“We don’t want that change,” he said.
Brownlee told them he was running for school board.
“It’s going to take us 31⁄2 years to get you out of here, but we will,” he said.
After the meeting, one parent yelled at the board members to make sure they looked at the kids they destroyed by making this decision.
Others in the audience yelled at board members and called them names.
It’s the second time Trinity has been through this in the past seven months.
When new board members were seated in December, they voted to open fall sports coaching positions and not to renew the athletic director and food services director contracts.
The board rescinded that decision in January because the way the decision was made was against school policy.
The board also accepted the retirement of food services director Thomas Sabol at Thursday’s meeting.
Board member Dennis McWreath asked that the board be given his retirement package at the next meeting. The board is considering whether to have a private company run the district cafeterias.